United Australia Party

The United Australia Party (UAP) was a conservative political party in Australia that existed from 1931 to 1945. The party was the political successor of the Nationalist Party of Australia, and it emerged as a breakaway faction of the Australian Labor Party. The UAP was in government in Australia for much of the 1930s, and Prime Minister Joseph Lyons oversaw Australia's recovery from the Great Depression. During the early stages of World War II (1939-1941), the party was led by Robert Menzies, and the party suffered a massive electoral defeat in 1943 after the Labor politician John Curtin won a major electoral victory due to his bravery in the face of the Japanese blitzkrieg in the Pacific. In 1945, the UAP was folded into the new Liberal Party of Australia.